Ethics, authority, and the proclamation of Jesus
Commentary
As the guest preacher for the day, I came through the door of the sanctuary in plenty of time before the service. Some musicians were practicing. A few ushers were taking care of Sunday morning details. One of the pastors greeted me and offered a few introductions. After a brief run through of the morning services, I was asked about the pulpit. "We don't use the pulpit very often. We usually preach from here in the chancel or down there in the aisle." I asked why and no one had much of an answer. I expected a word about communication or authority or outdated symbols. But that gathering of worship leaders offered little theological rationale. Although my hosts fully supported my desire to use the pulpit, they had to dust it off and clean out the microphone cords piled inside.
A simple rearrangement of sanctuary furniture doesn't address the challenging question of authority when it comes to proclamation in the church. To move closer to the people may improve the dynamics of communication but it doesn't necessarily squelch conversation about power, equality, or community in preaching. For at the end of the week, in most cases, one person still stands up to speak while a congregation sits to listen. Any significant amount of theological wrestling related to the authority of the preacher requires more than simply a decision about pulpit or no pulpit.
In a variety of ways the texts for this Fourth Sunday after Epiphany provide the opportunities for reflection about the uniqueness of the shared preaching life of congregation and pastor. Authority issues abound when considering the role of the prophet described in Deuteronomy or when engaging Paul's discussion in 1 Corinthians of the ethics of those who bear knowledge. The gospel lection in Mark reveals Jesus teaching "as one having authority and not as the scribes" (1:22). Of course the authority question in preaching ultimately leads to an encounter with the nature of the power and authority of the gospel. For those who have been called to preach, Jesus, Paul, and the Deuteronomistic history ought to spark good conversation. A solid preaching tradition exhorts us to be about the business of building up the church. The question of building up in love or puffing up with knowledge (1 Corinthians 8:1) strikes to the heart of how we understand the task of preaching itself.
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Buried within the pages of the Deuteronomy, the reader comes upon a clear statement on the role and authority of a prophet. The discussions in these chapters range from calendar keeping to worship laws and matters of justice. The verses that tell of God raising up a prophet come in response to the laws prohibiting diviners and soothsayers. Only the prophet of God is named as a proper means of receiving revelation and then communicating that Word from the Lord.
Clearly Moses is set up as the beginning of all prophecy and the first in the lineage of prophets called of God (18:15). God's use of a prophet is partly in response to the people of Israel's request at Mount Horeb. The request was for something of a mediator who could protect them from hearing or seeing the awesomeness of God. Such fear of seeing and hearing God came in direct response to Moses' encounter that resulted in receipt of the law. The role of the prophet, then, reflects the dynamic relationship of God and the people of Israel as it pertains to the ongoing work of revelation.
Of course, once a prophet is defined and called, the possibility of false prophet exists. While exhorting the people of God to listen to properly called prophets, the writer goes on to warn of those who speak in the name of other gods. Similarly, prophets who have trouble with outcomes may, in fact, not be the Lord's prophet. Accurate predictions become an indicator both of the truth and of the Lord's role in the inspiration of the prophet. Like the broader book of Deuteronomy, much determination of the truth is guided by looking to the past and the depth of God's relationship with the people of Israel. Similarly, the efficacy of the prophets called by God depends upon hindsight and a thick description of the divine/human covenant.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Despite our love for food, there is no food being sacrificed to idols these days. The casual reader may be tempted to skim through the eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians. Paul's wrestling with dietary practices follows treatment of marriage (ch. 7) and precedes his defense of his own apostolic authority. The food conversation may easily get lost and written off as relevant to ancient ritual practices related to sacrifice. A more careful reading, however, will focus on the role of knowledge and Paul's rhetorical response to specific claims within the Corinthian community.
Throughout the chapter, quotation marks indicate the opinions that evoke a response from Paul. "All of us possess knowledge" (v. 1). "No idol in the world really exists" (v. 4). "There is no God but one" (v. 4). And "Food will not bring us close to God" (v. 8). Paul engages a strong rhetorical technique that engages the thoughts of the intended Corinthian audience. Like a preacher drawing upon the context of congregational life, Paul addresses specific issues and the opinions swirling around the community of faith. He takes the specifics of dietary practices and pagan ritual and utilizes them in his critique of knowledge and his affirmation of community life.
"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (v. 1). Paul indicts those who think their knowledge elevates them in the community. Worse yet is the conclusion that such knowledge brings favor or salvation from God. Paul's theological exhortation is to love God and be known by God (v. 3). The God who ultimately knows us is the one God and Father of our one Lord, Jesus Christ (v. 6). Our existence and identity depend not upon our knowledge but upon our relationship to that God who created us.
In the second part of chapter 8, Paul takes on those who use their enlightened, knowledge-filled position in a way that causes others to stumble. The weak are described as those who continue to wrestle with cultic practices or those who hold on to dietary restrictions. Because of Paul's commitment to community, he maintains that the stronger must be aware of the weaker's place. In this case, those who choose not to worry about food choices must not forget those who wrestle with what to think. For to cause one of the weaker members of the community to stumble in their faith and growth is to sin against God and neighbor. Christ's death on the cross was just as sufficient for the weakest in the community (vv. 11-12).
Interestingly, as he offers the conclusion of the argument built through the chapter, Paul switches back to first-person language. At the end of the day, after offering the strongest of statements related to community and not causing a brother or sister to sin by the food choice you make, Paul offers a conclusion about behavior and practice that is autobiographical. As for the food that may cause stumbling, "I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall" (v. 13). Paul's rhetoric never strays far from his own faith and practice. And his commitment to life in the community of faith always seems to overshadow the specifics of an issue or controversy.
Mark 1:21-28
The public ministry of Jesus begins in Mark with the call of the disciples (1:16-20). This initial glimpse that starts with his collecting a small gathering of followers ends with fame spreading all around the regions of Galilee (v. 28). In between come teaching and the exorcism of an unclean spirit. The first recognition of Jesus in Mark comes not from an angel appearing to Mary or from Magi falling before an infant with gifts. Yes, John the Baptist predicts the "One who is more powerful than I" (1:7). It is the unclean spirit, however, who recognizes Jesus and grants him a divine title. "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God" (1:24). For Mark, the person and work of Jesus maintains that cosmic dimension. The heavens that are torn apart at his baptism now listen in as the evil spirits pronounce the Lord's divine nature.
Matthew is the Gospel writer usually credited with portraying Jesus as the Great Teacher, but here in this first scene of public ministry in Mark, Jesus heads off to the synagogue to teach. Although the first statement of Jesus in this Gospel is described by Mark as proclamation (1:15), the Sabbath day visit to the temple is clearly defined as teaching (1:21). It is the Lord's teaching that astounds. It is the authority of the Lord's teaching that takes all by surprise. For his authority is unlike that authority usually expressed and enacted by the scribes (1:22). The nature of that difference of authority strikes to the heart of this opening scene of ministry.
Some would suggest that the authority of the scribes is rooted in a study of letters and laws. They are defined by what they do and therefore, subjected to the text. The authority of Jesus comes from beyond the text. The authority comes from above. Beyond simply interpreting the sacred page, with his words Jesus projects and establishes the reign of God. That authority is revealed immediately in the exorcism. While observers were taken by the dynamic of the Lord's teaching, his enacting of that kingdom talk with the cleansing of the spirit confirms this new authority. The powers and the principalities respond to this teaching that reflects a living encounter with both God and God's kingdom. Rather than an authority grounded in the past tradition of text, this authority is forward leaning, rooted in the kingdom of God. In literary terms, the authority of the scribes rests in the text of the law. The authority of Jesus radiates from the Living God.
Mark's readers will soon come upon the mysterious messianic secret. The church will remember those times that Jesus performed a miracle or taught something about his own passion and then told his followers to say nothing. The question then comes as to this fame that spreads so quickly. Is Mark simply setting up for the secret? Is it the news of the exorcism that spreads? Or are the powers that be already reacting to the unique and threatening nature of this authority? Mark leaves little time to wrestle with the questions. The verses that come right after our text for today move into descriptions of healings, demons cast out, and Jesus himself finding a deserted place to pray.
Application
Prophets, exorcisms, and food being sacrificed to idols. With each biblical lesson for the day we encounter the challenge of that old world of the Bible. Choose any text and risk losing the listener somewhere in the translation. It is the oldest of arguments in biblical interpretation. Do we translate the old categories of the Bible into the contemporary world? Or does the biblical narrative draw us into that world of scripture that questions and defines us? A preacher can work long and hard looking for the modern prophet, reframing unclean spirits, and recasting Paul's arguments about faith in community. Perhaps an alternative can be found in that authority embodied by Jesus in Mark's Gospel.
In contrasting the Lord's authority with that of the scribes, Mark's Gospel frames the life and ministry within the forward movement of the kingdom of God. That cosmic/divine authority that comes from above parallels the announcement Jesus offers earlier in the chapter. "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." The dynamic reign of the kingdom of God inaugurated through the teaching and healings of Jesus pushes beyond tradition and text. On the other hand, this kingdom of God where unclean spirits are sent out is clearly a kingdom not of this world. His is a new teaching. Jesus neither translates the law in terms of the listeners nor does he suggest that the world of the listener is simply drawn into the world created by the text. This new teaching of Jesus is about celebrating the new world of the kingdom of God in our midst.
This first glimpse of the public ministry of Jesus provides the church with that glimpse of the kingdom of God. Prophets and preachers who bear witness to the Word of the Lord do in fact point to that always-coming kingdom of God. Like the prophet's role described in Deuteronomy, one's experience of the kingdom is fulfilled in hindsight and within the thick context of one's relationship with God. In Jesus Christ, that kingdom draws near. And those of us who are called to the preaching office must also point to the presence of God and the kingdom in our midst now. For the authority rests not with us, nor with simply the text. The authority rests with the Living God and God's promised presence with us. We may have to look long and hard for the prophets, the exorcisms, and the food that comes from pagan rituals. However, some are still called and granted the authority to look into the ordinary places of our lives and see the kingdom of God at work.
Alternative Applications
1) 1 Corinthians 8:1-13. There in the 8th chapter of 1 Corinthians, amid conversation about food sacrificed to idols, the Apostle Paul provides a strong ethic of community. For Paul the issue is specific, those dietary practices in relation to pagan ritual. For preachers today issues that threaten community life will not be hard to find. Some may find the concern right there in the congregation. Others may look to the controversies that threaten denominations. Still others can look into the wider dynamics of community life and issue a call for that ethic of Paul. While exploring all sides of the conversation about food practice and apparently concluding that the choice of food to eat is not going to draw us closer or push us away from God, Paul still chooses to allow his concern for the other to inform his own decision and practice.
In congregations today little time is spent pondering what may help the faith journey of those sitting near by. The weak of faith can be interpreted as the new in faith, or the younger folks growing into faith, or someone who is simply struggling in life or in faith. Worship conversations so quickly turn to "what's in it for me?" The faithful rarely conceive of going to worship because someone else might need your prayers, or might be blessed by hearing you sing that hymn. It may be as simple as you going to worship one Sunday because another member of the community cannot. How many pastors have visited those in the hospital who found strength when thinking about the community gathered that hour for prayer and worship? Paul's community ethic of caring for the most vulnerable of faith certainly goes beyond heated issues. His concern reflects the gospel exhortation to care and to pray and to lift up the least among us.
2) Mark 1:21-28. The first chapter of Mark has such a pace to it. Compared with how Matthew and Luke linger in the birth narratives, and how John waxes philosophically about the Incarnation, Mark pushes the reader quickly into the person and work of Christ. Taking this gospel lesson in the context of the first chapter, it is striking that the reader has little time to dwell on the question of who this Jesus is. Just when questions are raised about his teaching, or just when the reactions to his authority are mentioned, the reader's eye must rush on to take in the healing of Simon's mother-in-law, the curing of so many who were sick, Jesus in prayer, and the leper who came begging to be healed. One gets the sense that while the crowds buzzed about this Jesus, while the fame spread, Jesus himself simply went about the work of the kingdom.
No doubt the genre of the Gospels intends to answer that question about "Who is this Jesus." For the faithful, our growth in faith must always include that challenge to the life of the mind and the constant journey of faith development. But the pace of Mark's Gospel reminds us that our life in Christ is never just an intellectual process. Our wrestling in faith must be more than conversation. The call to encounter the person of Christ must include an encounter with his work and ministry as well. While some stick around talking some more, others are out and about looking for ways to embody the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
First Lesson Focus
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
How does God speak to us in the 21st century? The church has always affirmed that we hear God through his word, both written and proclaimed. That is, we hear God speaking to us through the medium of the scriptures and through the proclamation of a sermon. We don't claim that we actually hear the voice of the Lord sounding in our ears, but we are convinced that through his written and proclaimed word, the living God communicates with our hearts and minds and inner selves. Moreover, that which is communicated to us is not necessarily the same as the thoughts and feelings that arise out of our own consciences and desires. Often God's speaking contradicts that which we had previously thought or desired. And so the Word of God frequently comes to us as something radically new that challenges our previous ways of acting and believing. The Word of God can be indeed, as Hebrew says, "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
It was precisely that powerful, active, discerning word that patriarchs and prophets, psalmists and historians, wisdom writers and apostles and disciples heard in the times of the Old and New Testaments. It was the invincible Word of God, spoken to countless churches and gatherings of the people of God, that gave birth to the biblical faith, that was painstakingly and faithfully preserved and handed down to us through the centuries of scripture, and that still speaks to all who have ears to listen in trust. So God speaks to us today through his word, written and proclaimed (cf. Romans 10:14-17).
Some persons claim that there are other media through which God speaks to them, however, and as we know, the results of that can be dreadful. "The Lord told me to kill my children." Or "the Lord gave me a new revelation, and now he has commanded me to gather together a commune, to abandon my present life, and to go live with my followers in the jungle, where eventually God will command us all to commit suicide." Yes, unbridled claims to hear God speaking can lead to awful consequences.
But we, too, flirt with those unbridled claims to hear God speaking in our churches, don't we? Lately the popular "spirituality" movement has fostered something called the "discernment process," through which we all can hear the voice of God. The practice apparently is to gather together in quietness and listening, until we begin to get a hint of what the Lord is saying and can communicate that in simple words to the group. Often the goal is to settle some disagreement among the members of the group. But not surprisingly, that which is heard, supposedly from God, is a course of action or set of beliefs that the one "hearing" God advocated in the first place. The difference is that having "centered down" all our thoughts in the discernment process, now the action or belief is attributed to God and not to our own previously held positions. Further, if questions are raised about the result, that is seen as questioning God -- a very difficult opponent with whom to differ. So we need to be very clear about how we think God speaks to us in our day and age. Those of faith who went before us faced the same necessity of clarity, and our text deals with the problems raised.
Certainly the 13th century B.C. Israelites, who, in Deuteronomy, are poised to enter the Promised Land, were quite clear about how God had spoken to them in the past. As Deuteronomy earlier records, those ancient Hebrews were terrified when they first heard the voice of the living God. When God spoke the Ten Commandments to Moses at Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard God's voice thundering out of fire in the midst of darkness (Deuteronomy 5:22-23). And they were overwhelmed. "Behold," they said, "the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. We have this day seen God speak with man and man still live" (Deuteronomy 5:24). They therefore beg Moses to be their mediator before God. "For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die" (v. 25). So you, Moses, "go near, and hear all that the Lord our God will say; and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you; and we will hear and do it" (v. 27). Moses thereby becomes the mediator of the Word of God to Israel, communicating to them what God says to them and relaying the words of the people to God. Moses is the connecting link in a two-way conversation between the Lord and his people.
In Deuteronomy, however, Moses is about to die. Indeed, the book is made up of three long discourses or sermons to the people before they cross the Jordan River into Canaan. But Moses will not be allowed to cross over with the people. He will be cremated in Moab and no one will know where his grave is located (Deuteronomy 34). What will the Israelites do then? How will they know what God is saying to them as they face new situations and dangers in Canaan? Who will give them God's directions for their lives with the Lord?
In our text, Moses therefore utters a prophecy to reassure his frightened people. The Lord will not end his prophetic utterances to the people with the death of Moses. Rather he will raise up a new prophet like Moses, from among the Israelites, who will continue to speak the words from the Lord that the Lord gives him to speak. He will not speak his own words or claim to have revelation superior to that which was given to Moses -- for Moses was the first great forerunner of all true prophets in Israel (cf. Deuteronomy 34:10-12; Numbers 12:6-8). Rather, through the words of this prophet-like-Moses, God will continue to communicate with his covenant people.
There is some evidence that many of the prophets who succeeded Moses considered themselves to be taking up Moses' prophetic, mediating role. Certainly Jeremiah did, and the parallels between the call of Moses and that to Jeremiah have long been noted. But vv. 20-23 in our text and many other passages in the prophetic literature (e.g. Jeremiah 23:9-40 or Ezekiel 13) indicate that true prophecy, like Moses', continually had to contend with false prophets who prophesied only their own words and continually falsified the words that God would speak to his people.
As a result, there arose in Israel the expectation of the coming of an eschatological prophet-like-Moses, who would faithfully mediate the Word of God to his people. We find the expectation of such a future prophet-like-Moses already among the people who heard Jesus' words (cf. John 1:21; 6:14), and in Acts 3:22-26, our Lord is specifically identified as that eschatological prophet. Indeed, using other theological traditions, the Gospel according to Matthew, for example, is at pains to identify Jesus Christ as the new Moses, giving the new law to the new people of God on the new mount (Matthew 5-7).
Now certainly our Lord Jesus is more than a prophet, more than a new Moses, more than all of the Old Testament figures who precede him. But the promised prophet-like-Moses he also surely is. He not only mediates the Word of God to his people, but he himself is the Word of God made flesh, and in him, we are told who God is and what he wills for our lives and what the future holds for those of faith.
One little phrase in our morning's text is therefore all-important for us. It says of the Mosaic prophet, "him you shall heed," the command similar to that one given to the disciples at the Transfiguration. "Listen to him," says the voice from heaven at that time (Mark 9:7). So if we want to know how God speaks to us today in our time and place, it is clear that his Word is incarnated for us in our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, any "revelations" claimed today are truly from God only if they accord with God's speaking in Christ, as that is mediated to us through the scriptures. (Cf. 1 John 4:1.) For "in many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2). In our Lord Jesus Christ, as he is proclaimed to us through scripture and in sermon, we hear God addressing us.
Preaching The Psalm
Psalm 111
Verse 1 of Psalm 111 says the Lord is to be praised, and the rest of the psalm says why. Structurally, this psalm is based on the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, with the first word in each measure beginning with the next letter in order, with a total of 22 measures.
This is a psalm of individual thanksgiving, probably belonging together with Psalm 112. It's worth noting that the wisdom reference in verse 10 -- "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and all who practice it have a good understanding" -- not only sets theme for Psalm 112, but also abruptly introduces the notion that praising the Lord and obeying his commands is not just for purposes of worshiping the Creator and living righteously, but also because it makes sense. In other words, it's good advice because the righteous do better in life than the wicked.
We might argue that last point based on empirical evidence from our own day, but allowing that the psalmist and his contemporaries believed it, we are tempted to ask whether that misses the point. We know of people who live by the Golden Rule -- mentioned by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount -- because it makes sense, but that misses Jesus' intention. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus wasn't running a seminar on how to have a happy and healthy life; he was talking about how to live righteously.
So a sermon on "The Motive for Bible Reading" or "Seeing Biblical Benefits As Secondary" or something similar might grow out of Psalm 111. It has nine verses devoted to worshiping God because of who God is and one verse devoted to worshiping him because there is a payoff for the worshiper, and maybe that balance is about right. We would hope that we follow the way of Christ mostly for the highest motives.
A simple rearrangement of sanctuary furniture doesn't address the challenging question of authority when it comes to proclamation in the church. To move closer to the people may improve the dynamics of communication but it doesn't necessarily squelch conversation about power, equality, or community in preaching. For at the end of the week, in most cases, one person still stands up to speak while a congregation sits to listen. Any significant amount of theological wrestling related to the authority of the preacher requires more than simply a decision about pulpit or no pulpit.
In a variety of ways the texts for this Fourth Sunday after Epiphany provide the opportunities for reflection about the uniqueness of the shared preaching life of congregation and pastor. Authority issues abound when considering the role of the prophet described in Deuteronomy or when engaging Paul's discussion in 1 Corinthians of the ethics of those who bear knowledge. The gospel lection in Mark reveals Jesus teaching "as one having authority and not as the scribes" (1:22). Of course the authority question in preaching ultimately leads to an encounter with the nature of the power and authority of the gospel. For those who have been called to preach, Jesus, Paul, and the Deuteronomistic history ought to spark good conversation. A solid preaching tradition exhorts us to be about the business of building up the church. The question of building up in love or puffing up with knowledge (1 Corinthians 8:1) strikes to the heart of how we understand the task of preaching itself.
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Buried within the pages of the Deuteronomy, the reader comes upon a clear statement on the role and authority of a prophet. The discussions in these chapters range from calendar keeping to worship laws and matters of justice. The verses that tell of God raising up a prophet come in response to the laws prohibiting diviners and soothsayers. Only the prophet of God is named as a proper means of receiving revelation and then communicating that Word from the Lord.
Clearly Moses is set up as the beginning of all prophecy and the first in the lineage of prophets called of God (18:15). God's use of a prophet is partly in response to the people of Israel's request at Mount Horeb. The request was for something of a mediator who could protect them from hearing or seeing the awesomeness of God. Such fear of seeing and hearing God came in direct response to Moses' encounter that resulted in receipt of the law. The role of the prophet, then, reflects the dynamic relationship of God and the people of Israel as it pertains to the ongoing work of revelation.
Of course, once a prophet is defined and called, the possibility of false prophet exists. While exhorting the people of God to listen to properly called prophets, the writer goes on to warn of those who speak in the name of other gods. Similarly, prophets who have trouble with outcomes may, in fact, not be the Lord's prophet. Accurate predictions become an indicator both of the truth and of the Lord's role in the inspiration of the prophet. Like the broader book of Deuteronomy, much determination of the truth is guided by looking to the past and the depth of God's relationship with the people of Israel. Similarly, the efficacy of the prophets called by God depends upon hindsight and a thick description of the divine/human covenant.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Despite our love for food, there is no food being sacrificed to idols these days. The casual reader may be tempted to skim through the eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians. Paul's wrestling with dietary practices follows treatment of marriage (ch. 7) and precedes his defense of his own apostolic authority. The food conversation may easily get lost and written off as relevant to ancient ritual practices related to sacrifice. A more careful reading, however, will focus on the role of knowledge and Paul's rhetorical response to specific claims within the Corinthian community.
Throughout the chapter, quotation marks indicate the opinions that evoke a response from Paul. "All of us possess knowledge" (v. 1). "No idol in the world really exists" (v. 4). "There is no God but one" (v. 4). And "Food will not bring us close to God" (v. 8). Paul engages a strong rhetorical technique that engages the thoughts of the intended Corinthian audience. Like a preacher drawing upon the context of congregational life, Paul addresses specific issues and the opinions swirling around the community of faith. He takes the specifics of dietary practices and pagan ritual and utilizes them in his critique of knowledge and his affirmation of community life.
"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (v. 1). Paul indicts those who think their knowledge elevates them in the community. Worse yet is the conclusion that such knowledge brings favor or salvation from God. Paul's theological exhortation is to love God and be known by God (v. 3). The God who ultimately knows us is the one God and Father of our one Lord, Jesus Christ (v. 6). Our existence and identity depend not upon our knowledge but upon our relationship to that God who created us.
In the second part of chapter 8, Paul takes on those who use their enlightened, knowledge-filled position in a way that causes others to stumble. The weak are described as those who continue to wrestle with cultic practices or those who hold on to dietary restrictions. Because of Paul's commitment to community, he maintains that the stronger must be aware of the weaker's place. In this case, those who choose not to worry about food choices must not forget those who wrestle with what to think. For to cause one of the weaker members of the community to stumble in their faith and growth is to sin against God and neighbor. Christ's death on the cross was just as sufficient for the weakest in the community (vv. 11-12).
Interestingly, as he offers the conclusion of the argument built through the chapter, Paul switches back to first-person language. At the end of the day, after offering the strongest of statements related to community and not causing a brother or sister to sin by the food choice you make, Paul offers a conclusion about behavior and practice that is autobiographical. As for the food that may cause stumbling, "I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall" (v. 13). Paul's rhetoric never strays far from his own faith and practice. And his commitment to life in the community of faith always seems to overshadow the specifics of an issue or controversy.
Mark 1:21-28
The public ministry of Jesus begins in Mark with the call of the disciples (1:16-20). This initial glimpse that starts with his collecting a small gathering of followers ends with fame spreading all around the regions of Galilee (v. 28). In between come teaching and the exorcism of an unclean spirit. The first recognition of Jesus in Mark comes not from an angel appearing to Mary or from Magi falling before an infant with gifts. Yes, John the Baptist predicts the "One who is more powerful than I" (1:7). It is the unclean spirit, however, who recognizes Jesus and grants him a divine title. "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God" (1:24). For Mark, the person and work of Jesus maintains that cosmic dimension. The heavens that are torn apart at his baptism now listen in as the evil spirits pronounce the Lord's divine nature.
Matthew is the Gospel writer usually credited with portraying Jesus as the Great Teacher, but here in this first scene of public ministry in Mark, Jesus heads off to the synagogue to teach. Although the first statement of Jesus in this Gospel is described by Mark as proclamation (1:15), the Sabbath day visit to the temple is clearly defined as teaching (1:21). It is the Lord's teaching that astounds. It is the authority of the Lord's teaching that takes all by surprise. For his authority is unlike that authority usually expressed and enacted by the scribes (1:22). The nature of that difference of authority strikes to the heart of this opening scene of ministry.
Some would suggest that the authority of the scribes is rooted in a study of letters and laws. They are defined by what they do and therefore, subjected to the text. The authority of Jesus comes from beyond the text. The authority comes from above. Beyond simply interpreting the sacred page, with his words Jesus projects and establishes the reign of God. That authority is revealed immediately in the exorcism. While observers were taken by the dynamic of the Lord's teaching, his enacting of that kingdom talk with the cleansing of the spirit confirms this new authority. The powers and the principalities respond to this teaching that reflects a living encounter with both God and God's kingdom. Rather than an authority grounded in the past tradition of text, this authority is forward leaning, rooted in the kingdom of God. In literary terms, the authority of the scribes rests in the text of the law. The authority of Jesus radiates from the Living God.
Mark's readers will soon come upon the mysterious messianic secret. The church will remember those times that Jesus performed a miracle or taught something about his own passion and then told his followers to say nothing. The question then comes as to this fame that spreads so quickly. Is Mark simply setting up for the secret? Is it the news of the exorcism that spreads? Or are the powers that be already reacting to the unique and threatening nature of this authority? Mark leaves little time to wrestle with the questions. The verses that come right after our text for today move into descriptions of healings, demons cast out, and Jesus himself finding a deserted place to pray.
Application
Prophets, exorcisms, and food being sacrificed to idols. With each biblical lesson for the day we encounter the challenge of that old world of the Bible. Choose any text and risk losing the listener somewhere in the translation. It is the oldest of arguments in biblical interpretation. Do we translate the old categories of the Bible into the contemporary world? Or does the biblical narrative draw us into that world of scripture that questions and defines us? A preacher can work long and hard looking for the modern prophet, reframing unclean spirits, and recasting Paul's arguments about faith in community. Perhaps an alternative can be found in that authority embodied by Jesus in Mark's Gospel.
In contrasting the Lord's authority with that of the scribes, Mark's Gospel frames the life and ministry within the forward movement of the kingdom of God. That cosmic/divine authority that comes from above parallels the announcement Jesus offers earlier in the chapter. "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." The dynamic reign of the kingdom of God inaugurated through the teaching and healings of Jesus pushes beyond tradition and text. On the other hand, this kingdom of God where unclean spirits are sent out is clearly a kingdom not of this world. His is a new teaching. Jesus neither translates the law in terms of the listeners nor does he suggest that the world of the listener is simply drawn into the world created by the text. This new teaching of Jesus is about celebrating the new world of the kingdom of God in our midst.
This first glimpse of the public ministry of Jesus provides the church with that glimpse of the kingdom of God. Prophets and preachers who bear witness to the Word of the Lord do in fact point to that always-coming kingdom of God. Like the prophet's role described in Deuteronomy, one's experience of the kingdom is fulfilled in hindsight and within the thick context of one's relationship with God. In Jesus Christ, that kingdom draws near. And those of us who are called to the preaching office must also point to the presence of God and the kingdom in our midst now. For the authority rests not with us, nor with simply the text. The authority rests with the Living God and God's promised presence with us. We may have to look long and hard for the prophets, the exorcisms, and the food that comes from pagan rituals. However, some are still called and granted the authority to look into the ordinary places of our lives and see the kingdom of God at work.
Alternative Applications
1) 1 Corinthians 8:1-13. There in the 8th chapter of 1 Corinthians, amid conversation about food sacrificed to idols, the Apostle Paul provides a strong ethic of community. For Paul the issue is specific, those dietary practices in relation to pagan ritual. For preachers today issues that threaten community life will not be hard to find. Some may find the concern right there in the congregation. Others may look to the controversies that threaten denominations. Still others can look into the wider dynamics of community life and issue a call for that ethic of Paul. While exploring all sides of the conversation about food practice and apparently concluding that the choice of food to eat is not going to draw us closer or push us away from God, Paul still chooses to allow his concern for the other to inform his own decision and practice.
In congregations today little time is spent pondering what may help the faith journey of those sitting near by. The weak of faith can be interpreted as the new in faith, or the younger folks growing into faith, or someone who is simply struggling in life or in faith. Worship conversations so quickly turn to "what's in it for me?" The faithful rarely conceive of going to worship because someone else might need your prayers, or might be blessed by hearing you sing that hymn. It may be as simple as you going to worship one Sunday because another member of the community cannot. How many pastors have visited those in the hospital who found strength when thinking about the community gathered that hour for prayer and worship? Paul's community ethic of caring for the most vulnerable of faith certainly goes beyond heated issues. His concern reflects the gospel exhortation to care and to pray and to lift up the least among us.
2) Mark 1:21-28. The first chapter of Mark has such a pace to it. Compared with how Matthew and Luke linger in the birth narratives, and how John waxes philosophically about the Incarnation, Mark pushes the reader quickly into the person and work of Christ. Taking this gospel lesson in the context of the first chapter, it is striking that the reader has little time to dwell on the question of who this Jesus is. Just when questions are raised about his teaching, or just when the reactions to his authority are mentioned, the reader's eye must rush on to take in the healing of Simon's mother-in-law, the curing of so many who were sick, Jesus in prayer, and the leper who came begging to be healed. One gets the sense that while the crowds buzzed about this Jesus, while the fame spread, Jesus himself simply went about the work of the kingdom.
No doubt the genre of the Gospels intends to answer that question about "Who is this Jesus." For the faithful, our growth in faith must always include that challenge to the life of the mind and the constant journey of faith development. But the pace of Mark's Gospel reminds us that our life in Christ is never just an intellectual process. Our wrestling in faith must be more than conversation. The call to encounter the person of Christ must include an encounter with his work and ministry as well. While some stick around talking some more, others are out and about looking for ways to embody the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
First Lesson Focus
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
How does God speak to us in the 21st century? The church has always affirmed that we hear God through his word, both written and proclaimed. That is, we hear God speaking to us through the medium of the scriptures and through the proclamation of a sermon. We don't claim that we actually hear the voice of the Lord sounding in our ears, but we are convinced that through his written and proclaimed word, the living God communicates with our hearts and minds and inner selves. Moreover, that which is communicated to us is not necessarily the same as the thoughts and feelings that arise out of our own consciences and desires. Often God's speaking contradicts that which we had previously thought or desired. And so the Word of God frequently comes to us as something radically new that challenges our previous ways of acting and believing. The Word of God can be indeed, as Hebrew says, "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
It was precisely that powerful, active, discerning word that patriarchs and prophets, psalmists and historians, wisdom writers and apostles and disciples heard in the times of the Old and New Testaments. It was the invincible Word of God, spoken to countless churches and gatherings of the people of God, that gave birth to the biblical faith, that was painstakingly and faithfully preserved and handed down to us through the centuries of scripture, and that still speaks to all who have ears to listen in trust. So God speaks to us today through his word, written and proclaimed (cf. Romans 10:14-17).
Some persons claim that there are other media through which God speaks to them, however, and as we know, the results of that can be dreadful. "The Lord told me to kill my children." Or "the Lord gave me a new revelation, and now he has commanded me to gather together a commune, to abandon my present life, and to go live with my followers in the jungle, where eventually God will command us all to commit suicide." Yes, unbridled claims to hear God speaking can lead to awful consequences.
But we, too, flirt with those unbridled claims to hear God speaking in our churches, don't we? Lately the popular "spirituality" movement has fostered something called the "discernment process," through which we all can hear the voice of God. The practice apparently is to gather together in quietness and listening, until we begin to get a hint of what the Lord is saying and can communicate that in simple words to the group. Often the goal is to settle some disagreement among the members of the group. But not surprisingly, that which is heard, supposedly from God, is a course of action or set of beliefs that the one "hearing" God advocated in the first place. The difference is that having "centered down" all our thoughts in the discernment process, now the action or belief is attributed to God and not to our own previously held positions. Further, if questions are raised about the result, that is seen as questioning God -- a very difficult opponent with whom to differ. So we need to be very clear about how we think God speaks to us in our day and age. Those of faith who went before us faced the same necessity of clarity, and our text deals with the problems raised.
Certainly the 13th century B.C. Israelites, who, in Deuteronomy, are poised to enter the Promised Land, were quite clear about how God had spoken to them in the past. As Deuteronomy earlier records, those ancient Hebrews were terrified when they first heard the voice of the living God. When God spoke the Ten Commandments to Moses at Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard God's voice thundering out of fire in the midst of darkness (Deuteronomy 5:22-23). And they were overwhelmed. "Behold," they said, "the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. We have this day seen God speak with man and man still live" (Deuteronomy 5:24). They therefore beg Moses to be their mediator before God. "For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die" (v. 25). So you, Moses, "go near, and hear all that the Lord our God will say; and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you; and we will hear and do it" (v. 27). Moses thereby becomes the mediator of the Word of God to Israel, communicating to them what God says to them and relaying the words of the people to God. Moses is the connecting link in a two-way conversation between the Lord and his people.
In Deuteronomy, however, Moses is about to die. Indeed, the book is made up of three long discourses or sermons to the people before they cross the Jordan River into Canaan. But Moses will not be allowed to cross over with the people. He will be cremated in Moab and no one will know where his grave is located (Deuteronomy 34). What will the Israelites do then? How will they know what God is saying to them as they face new situations and dangers in Canaan? Who will give them God's directions for their lives with the Lord?
In our text, Moses therefore utters a prophecy to reassure his frightened people. The Lord will not end his prophetic utterances to the people with the death of Moses. Rather he will raise up a new prophet like Moses, from among the Israelites, who will continue to speak the words from the Lord that the Lord gives him to speak. He will not speak his own words or claim to have revelation superior to that which was given to Moses -- for Moses was the first great forerunner of all true prophets in Israel (cf. Deuteronomy 34:10-12; Numbers 12:6-8). Rather, through the words of this prophet-like-Moses, God will continue to communicate with his covenant people.
There is some evidence that many of the prophets who succeeded Moses considered themselves to be taking up Moses' prophetic, mediating role. Certainly Jeremiah did, and the parallels between the call of Moses and that to Jeremiah have long been noted. But vv. 20-23 in our text and many other passages in the prophetic literature (e.g. Jeremiah 23:9-40 or Ezekiel 13) indicate that true prophecy, like Moses', continually had to contend with false prophets who prophesied only their own words and continually falsified the words that God would speak to his people.
As a result, there arose in Israel the expectation of the coming of an eschatological prophet-like-Moses, who would faithfully mediate the Word of God to his people. We find the expectation of such a future prophet-like-Moses already among the people who heard Jesus' words (cf. John 1:21; 6:14), and in Acts 3:22-26, our Lord is specifically identified as that eschatological prophet. Indeed, using other theological traditions, the Gospel according to Matthew, for example, is at pains to identify Jesus Christ as the new Moses, giving the new law to the new people of God on the new mount (Matthew 5-7).
Now certainly our Lord Jesus is more than a prophet, more than a new Moses, more than all of the Old Testament figures who precede him. But the promised prophet-like-Moses he also surely is. He not only mediates the Word of God to his people, but he himself is the Word of God made flesh, and in him, we are told who God is and what he wills for our lives and what the future holds for those of faith.
One little phrase in our morning's text is therefore all-important for us. It says of the Mosaic prophet, "him you shall heed," the command similar to that one given to the disciples at the Transfiguration. "Listen to him," says the voice from heaven at that time (Mark 9:7). So if we want to know how God speaks to us today in our time and place, it is clear that his Word is incarnated for us in our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, any "revelations" claimed today are truly from God only if they accord with God's speaking in Christ, as that is mediated to us through the scriptures. (Cf. 1 John 4:1.) For "in many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2). In our Lord Jesus Christ, as he is proclaimed to us through scripture and in sermon, we hear God addressing us.
Preaching The Psalm
Psalm 111
Verse 1 of Psalm 111 says the Lord is to be praised, and the rest of the psalm says why. Structurally, this psalm is based on the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, with the first word in each measure beginning with the next letter in order, with a total of 22 measures.
This is a psalm of individual thanksgiving, probably belonging together with Psalm 112. It's worth noting that the wisdom reference in verse 10 -- "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and all who practice it have a good understanding" -- not only sets theme for Psalm 112, but also abruptly introduces the notion that praising the Lord and obeying his commands is not just for purposes of worshiping the Creator and living righteously, but also because it makes sense. In other words, it's good advice because the righteous do better in life than the wicked.
We might argue that last point based on empirical evidence from our own day, but allowing that the psalmist and his contemporaries believed it, we are tempted to ask whether that misses the point. We know of people who live by the Golden Rule -- mentioned by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount -- because it makes sense, but that misses Jesus' intention. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus wasn't running a seminar on how to have a happy and healthy life; he was talking about how to live righteously.
So a sermon on "The Motive for Bible Reading" or "Seeing Biblical Benefits As Secondary" or something similar might grow out of Psalm 111. It has nine verses devoted to worshiping God because of who God is and one verse devoted to worshiping him because there is a payoff for the worshiper, and maybe that balance is about right. We would hope that we follow the way of Christ mostly for the highest motives.
